Canada green-lights latest Gulfstream business jets after Trump tariff threat

MONTREAL – Canadian regulators have now given the thumbs-up to all Gulfstream business jets, less than a month after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened fresh tariffs over the planes’ status north of the border.

According to a departmental document, Transport Canada certified the Savannah, Ga.-based company’s G700 and G800 jets on Monday, eight days after green-lighting two older Gulfstream models. The move allows the jets to be sold in Canada and opens a new commercial door for the plane maker, a major rival of Montreal-based Bombardier Inc.

Trump warned last month he would decertify and place tariffs on all Canadian-made planes unless the government approved the four Gulfstream luxury aircraft, marking the latest escalation of trade tensions between the two countries.

The go-ahead from Transport Canada comes despite de-icing concerns flagged by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which has granted the G700 and G800 conditional certification.

The FAA said Gulfstream, owned by General Dynamics, has until the end of this year to prove that the two plane types function “properly under the probable operating conditions where ice may form in the fuel system,” according to a temporary exemption granted in 2024.

Transport Canada’s approval this week raises questions about whether any political pressure was brought to bear on Canadian regulators.

“It’s a slippery slope if we accede to a foreign government’s pressure or dictates to cut corners,” said Richard Leblanc, professor of governance, law and ethics at York University, though he clarified he was not suggesting that had occurred in this case.

“Transport Canada should disclose, given the coincidence, what were the circumstances and why,” he said. “Is something now being certified that was less than adequate earlier?”

Transport Canada did not immediately respond to questions.

Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon stressed that nothing untoward had taken place.

“I don’t get involved in certification of aircraft, other than to make sure officials are always keeping people’s safety in mind,” he told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Gulfstream applications for what is known as type certification had been “at various stages,” he said.

“Canada should be very proud that we have among the most exacting standards in the world. We work very closely with the FAA, with the European regulator, and we will continue to do that.”

Experts had cast doubt on Trump’s ability to decertify planes — typically the responsibility of the FAA, not the Oval Office — in a proposed move that would have dealt a blow to plane makers, airlines and travellers on both sides of the border.

Historically, plane groundings by regulators have related strictly to safety, like when the Boeing 737 Max 8 was banned from the skies for 20 months during the first Trump administration. Aviation authorities across the globe issued directives in March 2019 after a deadly crash that killed all 157 people on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight in the second of two Max crashes less than five months apart.

Leblanc said Trump’s threats were “arbitrary and capricious,” given they had nothing to do with air worthiness.

“How can something go from being certified to uncertified on a completely unrelated issue?” he asked, before pointing to the underlying reason.

“The president is fond of using tariffs as a negotiating ploy,” he said.

In a Truth Social post on Jan. 29, Trump singled out Bombardier in a threat to ground all Canadian-made aircraft and slap them with a 50 per cent tariff. White House officials later clarified that the effective banning of Canadian-built planes from American skies would apply only to new aircraft, rather than the more than than 5,400 Canadian-made planes and helicopters registered in the United States.

Bombardier and Gulfstream are head-to-head rivals, with the Global series battling for market share against Gulfstream’s latest models.

However, any blow to Bombardier would be a blow to American companies, too.

Bombardier has said it employs 3,000 people across nine sites south of the border and counts 2,800 U.S. suppliers. The company’s jets typically boast at least 40 per cent American content.

Meanwhile, the U.S. enjoys a large trade surplus with Canada in aerospace, meaning the general trade imbalance Trump has cited to justify other levies does not apply.

Aircraft constructed in Canada include Bombardier luxury jets, De Havilland Canada Twin Otters and water bombers, A220 single-aisle jets made by French aerospace giant Airbus and helicopters from Texas-based Bell Textron.